View full sizeWesley Matthews and the Blazers had a lot to smile about Friday night.The Associated Press

ATLANTA — Friday night could not have started any worse for the Trail Blazers.

Shortly after they boarded buses to travel from the hotel to Philips Arena, the Blazers ran smack dab into snarling traffic.

The triple-whammy combination of a seven-car pileup, an overturned sport utility vehicle and a shooting at a local Drive-in restaurant transformed downtown Atlanta — a city notorious for having awful gridlock — into a rush hour parking lot.

The first of two Blazers buses didn’t arrive to the arena until after 6 p.m., long after it normally does, as most of the coaches and players endured a 55-minute commute. The fiasco forced the Blazers to hurriedly go through shortened pregame warmups and treatment sessions, thrusting the creatures of habit far out of their comfort zones.

“Everything was stacked against us,” said Wesley Matthews, who didn’t eat dinner until 50 minutes before tipoff.

But in another odds-defying performance, thanks to clutch play from a variety of sources, the Blazers shook off the ominous pregame obstacle and completed one of their most impressive back-to-backs of the season, defeating the Atlanta Hawks 104-93.

“Oh, my, God,” Nicolas Batum said, rolling his eyes at the Blazers’ pregame adventure. “It was like a European pregame. We got here an hour before the tip and then it was just, ‘OK, let’s go.”

In what should come as no surprise, there were some early hiccups. The Blazers, clearly feeling the effects of that rushed pregame, missed seven of their first eight shots on offense. And then, one game after showing so much promise on defense against the Chicago Bulls, they allowed the fast-paced Hawks — who rank third in the NBA in fast-break points — to run at will for the better part of three quarters.

When the Hawks reeled off a 15-3 run midway through the third quarter, they led 66-55 and it looked like it was going to be one of those nights for the Blazers. But out of nowhere, things changed. Matthews was hitting everything in sight. Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge were scoring clutch buckets. Batum was doing the little things. And that sturdy defense that led the Blazers to a win over the Bulls Thursday night suddenly resurfaced.

The result was an incredible about-face as the Blazers closed the game by outscoring the Hawks 49-27 over the final 17:26.

Matthews, who finished with 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting, was instrumental in the comeback. His defense on Kyle Korver (six points, 2-for-7 shooting) was suffocating and he continuously hit big shots over the first three quarters to keep the Blazers within striking distance. Matthews was hottest — and most important — in the third, when he scored 14 points and made all four of his three-point attempts.

Among the shots were tough, step-back threes, and every one of them seemed to offer the Blazers a lifeline, doing just enough to prevent the Hawks from taking over the game permanently.

“He kept us in it,” Lillard said of Matthews. “At that point, it wasn’t going our way. They were getting good shots. The ball was bouncing their way. (But) their lead never got away from us. They never could build a big enough lead because he was knocking down shots.”

“Wes was terrific,” Stotts said, before adding. “He plays to exhaustion. He’s gassed, but he keeps on going. And he’s in a nice groove right now.”

Eventually, Matthews’ mojo rubbed off on his teammates and the Hawks (38-31) didn’t have a chance. Lillard scored eight of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, hitting dagger shot after dagger shot. And after attempting just three shots through three quarters, Batum made both of his fourth-quarter attempts and did a little bit of everything else to contribute, finishing with seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals. All the while, Aldridge was solid, recording 20 points and 13 rebounds.

The Blazers’ defense also revealed another hint of progress. In the difference-making fourth quarter, the Blazers (33-36) limited the Hawks to 33 percent shooting (6 of 18), forced four turnovers, allowed just four fast-break points, surrendered zero three-pointers — to the NBA’s third-best three-point shooting team — and held a 13-8 rebounding edge.

Josh Smith, who finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, went 0-for-5 from the field and scored just one point in the fourth quarter.

“The way we play defense the last two games is great,” Batum said. “And we did it against two playoffs teams.”

And they did it despite that pregame snafu. As the Blazers’ first team bus finally made its way near Philips Arena, with that mind-numbing commute in the rearview mirror, the Blazers encountered one final obstacle. A train was rolling through downtown Atlanta across tracks located close to the arena.

So the Blazers drove around the train, through more traffic, and eventually pulled up to the loading dock. It was hardly an ideal beginning to the night, but it could have been worse.

“We got the win,” Batum said. “So that’s OK. We’re good.”

Notes: Dallas defeated Boston Friday night, so the Blazers remained in a tie with the Mavericks for 10th place in the Western Conference, one-game behind ninth-place Utah and three games behind the Los Angeles Lakers, who own the eighth and final playoff spot. ... JJ Hickson recorded his 38th double-double of the season, registering 15 points and 10 rebounds. ... For the second consecutive game, Stotts predominantly used a seven-man rotation, playing Meyers Leonard and Eric Maynor off the bench. He refused to say whether that would continue to do so going forward. ... The Blazers improved to 2-2 on their five-game trip that concludes Sunday at Oklahoma City.